From words to actions: assessing the impact of antiracist declarations in library and information science

Abstract

The aims of this paper are to reaffirm calls for the global elimination of racism in library and information science, to specify ways of making progress towards such elimination, and to indicate how to assess the extent to which the declarations made by international bodies have had an impact on the success of antiracist strategies in which library and information science professionals engage at the local level. A review is undertaken of the declarations on racism made by the United Nations (UN), and by two professional organisations: the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and the International Society for Knowledge Organization (ISKO). A case study approach is then taken in identifying antiracist strategies in library and information science in the United States. International declarations on racism are numerous and expansive, and are suggestive of several important categories of antiracist strategy. A means of assessing the relationship between declarations and strategies is proposed. It is concluded that the impact of declarations has not been substantial. Affirmative action policies, hate speech bans, reparative taxonomies, and actions decentring whiteness are few and far between in library and information science. Renewed effort should be made to engage in antiracist strategies of the kinds promoted in the declarations.